Tears Of A Bear
by Selene Moonstar
Summary: Heroes are expected to remain strong and positive, but there are just a few moments in everyone's life where they must cry their hearts out to the world. Kazooie has seen Banjo cry many times, and remembers two distinctive memories very well because she knew that the tears of the honey-bear were for her. A Bazooie (BanjoxKazooie) Story. Rated T for Blood (lightly mentioned).
1. Chapter 1: Free Falling

"It's all over, I can tell, but Grunty's got just one more spell!"

For a witch that was old, green, and her heart darker than the black clothes she wore, her final spell must have been anger that she didn't express during the battle that forced her to swallow the defeat because of Jinjonator's final strike that was now lead to to unintentionally dive to her certain doom. Much like some of the spells that Gruntilda had casted against her foes beforehand, a similar spell of a foamy white and green was thrown from her hand, hoping to giver herself the minimal pleasure of taking her enemies down with her.

_"I will not completely accept defeat, as you can plainly see… _  
><em>If I'm going to hell, I'm taking you with me!"<em>

Banjo and Kazooie would have had a few moments to celebrate, but the words of their foe that was now falling from the tower clearly showed that she had other plans. Kazooie the Bregull wanted to stick to the plan of staying alive to save her best friend's sister. Banjo was in agreement of the matter, and both respective members of the team knew exactly what they had to do. If it wasn't from the new move that they had obtained on their journey, it was instinct.

Since the beginning of this journey, she and Banjo had learned plenty of moves and had more than enough time to muster the skill to use these specific abilities as they went from world to world in their grand Jiggy hunt that would ultimately lead to the rescuing of Banjo's sister. Out of the collection of the moves, their only hope of surviving this specific attack that was conjured by Gruntilda's anger was all dependent on a collection of golden feathers.

There was only one problem performing this specific move: they only had three feathers.

Because of the timing in which Gruntilda casted her spell, Banjo didn't have time to move that much, which meant clearly that the use of the golden feather would be essential. Popping her head out of her backpack, Kazooie seemed to have read her friend's thoughts as she covered Banjo to activate the risky move, waiting in timing with the spell, which was dangerously close by the time Kazooie did cover her bear friend, the force of the spell beginning to take its toll on the duo that it was intended for.

If only one feather was enough to take the impact.

Perhaps if Gruntilda put that much power into her spells before, she could have had a better chance avoiding the situation altogether. Nonetheless, such power worked in a way that would have pleased the witch as black lightning that illuminated a cliche green began to spark upon impact towards the team of two.

"K-Kazooie!" Banjo yelled from within the feathered barrier, "I don't think we can take it!"

"We have three feathers!" Kazooie protested, "We've been in tighter situations than this! We can do it!"

Three…  
>Two…<br>One…  
>Explosion.<p>

The force of the explosion that was conjured by the power of the remaining feathers made an explosion that sent the duo to the ground, Banjo's force unintentionally making Kazooie fly out of the blue book bag. A grunt of pain left the bear's mouth as the back of his head hit the ground, everything turning into a wave of colors for a duration of time that Banjo couldn't tell.

It must have been a for a few seconds, and just a few seconds was just enough to distract Banjo because of the impact. When Banjo realized that his book bag was painfully light because of the lack of his best friend accompanying him, he looked around frantically, his sapphire eyes falling to the edge of the tower where his best friend was about to fall off.

While his heart did stop for a brief moment, he used what strength he could find to lunge himself to the edge of the tower, both of his paws completely in front of him as if he were catching his best friend from the sky, but as long as he caught Kazooie before the gravity caused her to plummet to the ground, he didn't care how he got there.

As for Kazooie, she didn't know that she was falling from the tower, because the spell caused her to see everything in darkness and mixed colors. If there was anything else that hurt more than her head, it was definitely her right wing, which took most of the impact of the spell. When she said that they could do this, she really spoke out of stubbornness, and really didn't want to worry Banjo despite the three golden feathers that she had used to protect them. This same wing that was giving her pain was the same wing that shocked her out of her unconscious state, her heart almost stopping once again because of the fact that the ground below her was none at all. If gravity had not pushed her downward, then she would have assumed that the stone against her cheek would have been the actual ground.

Kazooie had to blink a few times in order to register that she was on the edge of the tower, and whoever had a firm grip on her wounded wing was the only lifeline she had that prevented her from meeting the same fate as Gruntilda. Slowly but surely, she glanced up towards the sky to meet the sapphire eyes of the one that rescued her, giving her only a few seconds to realize that it was none other than Banjo, now hanging halfway off of the tower with his paw in firm grip with her wing. Now that Kazooie thought about it, she slightly panicked after a few minutes of relief because of the fact that Banjo was shaking. It didn't matter if Banjo was shaking from weakness, or perhaps he was just that scared for Kazooie's safety: Banjo was shaking as if it were snowing outside, and it wasn't even that cold.

However, despite all of what could be and what might not really be, there was one thing about Banjo that she imagined that she would never forget: the bright tears that were falling from his eyes. Two of those tears, his face cringed with emotion, fell upon Kazooie's shocked face.

"H-Hang… on… K-Kazooie…" Banjo grunted, "Just… let me… "

"Banjo?"

"Y-Yeah… heh… that last spell was really bad, wasn't it? Hang on… I'll get you up."

Banjo was normally so easy-going, or perhaps cool-headed and relaxed, and there were situations they had that were far worse than this…  
>So why was Banjo crying his heart out?<p>

"Banjo! You're bleeding!"

Yes, indeed the honey bear was bleeding, for the impact of the spell not only did a toll on his arms, but his head as well. While his arms didn't bleed that much, his head from both the spell and the back-end impact was leading to a combo that wasn't the least bit to their advantage. Banjo really didn't want to admit that his head felt like spinning, but the truth of the matter was that he really didn't have to: Kazooie could already tell from the haziness in his eyes and the shaking in his posture. It was more than obvious now that Banjo was putting all of his strength into not releasing his friend to the ground.

Because she had a foothold on her consciousness, Kazooie zipped through many thoughts concerning about what to do, and she listened to a latter one that told her to use her claws alongside the stone tower. In this manner, Banjo would have some advantage to pulling her from the edge. Using what strength she had in her other wing, she began to flap as she used her claws against the stone of the witch's tower, trying to climb to the best of her ability alongside the pulling of the hazed, brown bear.

If timing wasn't bad enough, Kazooie wished that it wasn't right now, because Banjo's body gave into the haziness as his sapphire eyes went dark, his body falling forward into unconsciousness. Sadly, it took the conscious Kazooie with him.

"Banjo!"

After using all of his strength to save her, even now it wasn't to any avail, and both were about to meet a similar fate as the witch if a sudden spark of determination didn't spark in her to save her friend. He just went through all of his strength and trouble to save her, and she knew that deep down, she would have a hard time seeing her existence without her best friend. She would care less just how horrible the pain in her wing was affecting her flight: she was going to save Banjo, and her physical state wasn't going to change any of that.

Kazooie already registered in her mind that he wouldn't have fallen off the tower if it were not for her. Yes, they did use the other golden feathers in the fight a bit recklessly. Yes, a bit of her wing was burnt off because of the last spell (and it was likely that she would grow her feathers back again), hence why Banjo had any wounds to begin with. No, even if it killed her, or even damaged her wing forever, she didn't want anything to happen to Banjo again.

After all, she made a promise that she would never let him go.

The idea of anything happening to Banjo again was unlikely, for ever since they crossed paths with Gruntilda, what they assumed was going to be their peaceful life was turned upside down. Now she was literally upside down, trying to extend her claws in order to catch her falling friend. He did what he could to stop them from getting into this mess to begin with, and it was her turn to do the same. Putting as much power as she could into her both healthy and beaten wing, she moved herself downward, trying to catch some of the air beneath her wings as she lunged herself once again to the fallen honey-bear.

This time, it actually worked, and he was now within her claws, but the ground was deathly close to her by the time she had caught Banjo, meaning only so much time to flap her wings and take to the sky once again. It was good that the Jinjonator was thinking along the same lines as Kazooie concerning the fall of her friend, or he would not have dove in time to catch the duo from meeting the same fate as the witch. With what power the Jinjonator had left, he soared much faster than Kazooie, meeting her on the bottom in order to catch her and the bear, feeling on his back the thud from the impact of the duo because he was trying to catch them.

"Jinjonator sorry," he said.

"N-No," Kazooie said through panted breaths, "I-It's… it's fine… I'm just glad that Banjo is safe."

Now that gravity wasn't against her because of the Jinjonator, she turned to look at her friend's condition. Apparently, she was right concerning the heat of the moment, for Banjo had a really bad gash in his head, still surprisingly bleeding despite the air of the fall. His arms were slightly bleeding, but it was nothing compared to what would be a possible concussion later on.

Looking around her, Kazooie relished the fact that she was now at the place she called home. What made her even more happy was the fact that despite them turning to pools of color, she saw Tooty, Bottles, and Mumbo running to meet them as the dark clouds began to pour the rain that was held back during the duration of the fight. If there wasn't a strange feeling in her heart that was shapeless, happy emotions accompanied by relief, she could almost die in peace.

She could almost die in peace.

Perhaps Banjo would have felt the same way, but he wasn't awake for the outcome of the fight. Yes, he knew that Gruntilda was defeated by the ending blow of the Jinjonator, but his mind was already lost to the lack of senses when he fell off the tower. In that darkness, that's all his sapphire eyes could see, and his panicking heart could ever think about.

Kazooie…

In his mind, all he could think about was the outcome of the tower. The last thing he could remember was Kazooie's face, and the obvious tears that were flowing from his eyes. Why wouldn't he be crying? In Banjo's mind and heart, he was in a nervous wreck, and it all had to do with the fear of one little spell obliterating any outcome of them going home in peace and trying to forget that all of this had ever happened.

All he ever wanted was a quiet life with his sister and Kazooie. Should the event ever occur that would lead to his sister finding a place of her own, he wouldn't mind living with just Kazooie. Other than Tooty, Kazooie was the only one that meant everything to him, which might have been the reason why he was crying so much.

Banjo allowed himself a minute to stop the hazy thoughts from running around in his head. Was he really crying? The water that was in his eyes were obviously from nowhere else in the room that was most familiar to him, since it was his room. However, if the tears were that much real, then that would mean that the face Kazooie was real too, and that she was looking at him with the kind of concern that mean business. While it made his heart swell with happiness because of the concern she had for him, his heart was also broken because of the shocked sadness that he woke up to.

"… Banjo… "

"…Kazooie?"

He allowed his widened eyes to narrow, sinking in the reality that he must have been shocked out into this new state. Closing his eyes for a minute, he made the decision to sit up, and Kazooie protested a little too late on the matter.

"Banjo!"

Confusion hit him again as a swirl of pain began to invade his mind, shutting his eyes tightly, he wondered when the pain was going to stop. Ironically, his hidden stupidity was wondering why there wasn't anymore pain, due the abnormal expectation that his head would hit against something hard, or maybe have a small backlash of pillow impact. His heart, however, really hoped that a wing would catch him before he did anymore damage to himself.

"Banjo… please, take it easy…"

When his sapphire eyes opened once again, a sense of relief came over him when he felt feathers instead of the back of the headboard, or even the pillows he had grown accustom to sleeping upon. He knew that he wasn't completely laying straight out, since he was leaning whole-heartedly on one of her wings, with one of her cheeks rubbing against his forehead (which was strangely patched up), but he knew this side of Kazooie was very rare, and perhaps was a side that Banjo wished he could see more of without getting hurt.

"What do you remember?" Kazooie asked gently.

"… The spell… " Banjo replied weakly, "… The tower… you were… I almost… "

If Banjo wasn't in a complete nervous wreck before, he was surely in one right now. Covering his face with his paw, his shaking form began to pour tears out once again, his heart plainly in each and every one of them. In each and every tear was not just a piece of his heart, but a piece of his heart that he was giving to Kazooie. If he had not given his heart to her before, than surely it was evident now. The bregull's face became gentle at the sight of her friend shaking and pouring everything out that he was hiding back in his unconsciousness just a while ago.

"Kazooie… I'm so sorry…"

She really wanted to tell Banjo that it wasn't his fault, really, it wasn't, but this was a kind of nervous breakdown that she rarely saw out of Banjo, and there were very few ways to go about this. Moving her damaged wing over onto Banjo's lap, she did her best to hold onto Banjo's free paw as she closed her eyes and rubbed her cheek against his head again. If there was anyone that she would willingly comfort this way, it was definitely Banjo, and more than likely Banjo alone, regardless if it was for his sake or just him. Both pair of orbs closed at the same time as the silence was only broken by the cracking of fire and the sobs that were coming from the newfound hero.

Everyone else wanted to say something, but Tooty stopped them, and now that they knew that Kazooie had the bear covered, they could only move to the best they could in silence as Banjo poured his heart out to Kazooie.

"Everything will be okay now, Banjo… just let it out… just let it out…"

* * *

><p><strong>Artist's Comments:<strong>

Part 1 of Banjo-Kazooie's Tears of a Bear: Free Falling

Setting: During _Banjo-Kazooie: Final Fight_

There were so many things that I wanted to do differently concerning this particular chapter. Originally, I was going to have Banjo save Kazooie completely, but then after watching the final battle again along with picture inspiration, I realized that I would have to write this a little differently.

This is the first time I ever wrote a Bazooie (BanjoxKazooie) fiction. I'm really sorry if it sucks, but I did warn you beforehand that this was a bearxbird pairing implying. There's going to be even more of it in the next shot. If you don't appeal to the ship to the degree that it would destroy any appreciation for this two-shot, then please go elsewhere.

Constructive criticism is advised.

May God's love, grace, and mercy be with us all.


	2. Chapter 2: Sick Ol' Bear

If there was any time that Kazooie hated the snow more than ever, it was right now.

Many factors contributed to the irritation that was running through her veins: the cold slapping under what little protection she had, the snow that was sticking to her feathers, and the almost fruitless attempt to fly in the howling wind. For Kazooie, this meant little in relation to what was going on in her mind. While it was true that Kazooie cared little about the cold, being an avian and finding the weather a little annoying when it effected the wind, what she really cared about was not the cold, but what the cold had swallowed up.

More importantly, it was about who the snow swallowed up.

He had not yet returned from his little expedition. Then again, the snow was not this bad when he left. Kazooie still felt the strings of regret plucking their painful tune when she told herself that she knew the signs, but refused to listen to her gut, like she had grown so accustom to. The honey bear wasn't even completely healthy when he went away, so the purpose of the expedition really didn't matter: she wanted him to stay home and fight this illness off in bed. It would have been typical of her to say no and win the argument, but when Banjo convinced them enough that it wasn't going to take long, she imagined that would be the only unsettling atmosphere. Only until now was she proven wrong because she was treading the snow she feared. In some way, she was hoping that Banjo decided to stay at the cave until the storm died down.

The cave was discovered sometime ago before the battle with Gruntilda the first time. When it was cold, Banjo and Kazooie would make an expedition there every year to collect the fresh snow that would make its way in there. If there was no snow, then they would pick at some of the ice that would have easily been mistaken for lovely diamonds. It was this snow and ice that they agreed to make snow cones every summer. The more Kazooie thought about it, the more she wished that Banjo would stick to tradition and have them go together.

So why would he want to go alone this time, especially being a sick ol' bear?

For some reason, the idea of her sticking around the house to watch over Tooty wasn't enough. It wasn't until an hour into her thinking that Tooty finally spoke her thoughts: she was just worried, and thus shared the same feelings as Kazooie. After a fruitless debate about what Banjo had said to them before, Kazooie admitted to her feelings of worry by pursuing the honey-bear, with Tooty immediately beginning a pot of warm water should anything go wrong.

Kazooie was hoping to the bottom of her heart that the water would only be used for a typical pot of hot chocolate, following thereafter a scowling from both women. All of them knew that Banjo was ill, and it was only a small fever, but this was the cold of the arctic. So why did Banjo want to go alone? Him going alone was more than enough to send worries down her spine, if the cold didn't beat it to it first.

The snow was terribly cold, but her worries were more so as she was doing her best to fly in the dark night. The moon was full, and the snow's wind that had a terrible howl only ten minutes ago began to die down. It was the same kind of wind that Banjo left into the night to. Kazooie concluded that her jitters wouldn't be so bad if Banjo decided to go it during the morning, but no: he had to do it now; something about how the night would keep the snow from melting before he got back. Kazooie was more concerned that it would be Banjo instead of the snow that would be too cold to come back. Since the wind decided to finally die down, not only did Kazooie have better air to fly in, but her bird's eye view would now come into serious handy.

While it was true that Kazooie didn't want him to go out into the night, there was some advantage to the darkness. Beforehand, Tooty had offered him a honey-comb lantern that she instead that her brother take if he was that determined to do this. Kazooie was a little bit amazed that Banjo was willing to meet Tooty's need but take no head to her warning.

It was that same glowing honey-comb that Kazooie was looking for, hoping that her idiot friend would still be there next to it… and hopefully still alive.

No… no she couldn't think about the worst of what might have happened during that twenty minute snow storm ten minutes ago.

The cave… that's what she told herself… just find the cave… It was on the other side of Spiral Mountain, close to where Gruntilda was defeated during the quest of the rescue of Banjo's little sister: the location where the boulder had fallen upon her body when she fell into her first defeat. She could wait on snow cones, but she knew in her heart that it would take longer to cope with any possible regret, should it come because of not being able to rescue her best friend.

She would have swallowed hard when she came to the cave, but she breathed in a terrible gasp as she found the honey-comb light that she was looking for in the calm darkness, but her eyes also met a sight that made a tear fly into the night as she swooped down with great haste. The pile of snow, the brown fur that had snow sticking to it, and the blue book bag that was encumbered with frost: Kazooie would know that book bag from anywhere, even if she didn't see it for a hundred years. She would also recognize her friend that was laying on the cold snow as if there was nothing else to live for. Her suspicions were confirmed all the more as she brushed away whatever excess snow she could get off of him, confirming to both her mind and her heart that it was Banjo, and he didn't look good at all…  
>And this time, she meant that as a term of endearment.<p>

"Banjo!"

Using the strength of her wings that would normally be used for flying, she turned her friend over onto his back, which became slightly elevated because of the jars of snow that was in the backpack. Leaning down, she turned to see if hearing his heartbeat was possible. The wind was gone, so it was easier to hear the light beating that was too slow for Kazooie's comfort.

Screw the snow: she had an idea, and it was one of the only ideas she felt that would work. As if going to battle Gruntilda once more, she leaped into the blue book bag and popped her heat out once she was comfortable. The jars of snow made the book bag too cold to be comfortable, but she imagined that Banjo felt even worse due to being out here for so long. Flying wasn't a good option, so trotting back to the house was the only suitable alternative without running too much risk of losing Banjo along the way.

If her feet had to be cold by the time they got back, then so be it. In fact, that's what Kazooie was trying to resist when she returned, but that was the last memory Banjo had before falling into the darkness.

As he laid there, remembering nothing but a freezing atmosphere, the only thing that continued to pump to his ears was the beating of his own heart. If he didn't know any better, he would have even assumed that he felt his own pulse. However, that didn't change the fact that everything was cold, and it was the kind of cold that he didn't like. Sadly, it was the kind of cold that would reach down into his heart and give himself a heart-freeze. If the cold wasn't leaving like the way it was right now, perhaps he would have allowed himself to assume that he was dead. Much to his relief, he was beginning to feel the warmth of a crisp spring evening: not too much, but not enough to where he couldn't feel it.

The spring… the light…  
>Kazooie…<p>

When he last recalled to have touched the light, he remembered the painful feeling in his chest when a cloud of colors began to enter his vision. The more colors he started to tap into, the more his chest started to hurt. Just when it felt as if a boulder was put on his chest, his vision began to come into a sense of clarity that he could understand.

When he knew that his eyes were open, he expected a lot of red to reach his vision, but what he didn't expect was the red to glow, or perhaps lead to his vision realizing that the red he was looking at was actually fire. Blinking about twice, he wondered why his mind was so deep into confusion, let alone why everything was dark and warm. It wasn't until he turned his head again to a small table that he realized what was really happening: he was back at the house.

How in the world did he get here? More importantly, why was his chest so heavy? Above all else, where was Kazooie? The idea of her not being here sent a painful cringe to his already hurting chest, causing the poor bear to close his eyes. No, he didn't want to see the tear that he knew was falling from his face. While everything was hurting in a way, his chest felt the worst, and the beating of his heart even more so.

He would have asked himself why he was back at the house and why he was feeling this way, but he knew why: he knew why everything was hurting in some shape or manner. He was sick, and it dawned on him how he was starting to become a little too obvious to Tooty and Kazooie. If he had to be dragged back into the house, that meant what he had feared the most came to be: someone had to bring him back.

So who brought him back?

From the light that was coming from the kitchen area, it seemed that Tootie was making something, and his groan was a little more quiet than he imagined. If everything hurt, then maybe he was in too much pain to determine anything, and that included the sound of his own voice. A light sigh left his lips as he embraced the warmth and let the blanket make it's full work on him. He wanted to at least sit up and ask Tooty a few questions, but the attempt to sitting up was more fatal than he imagined.

The silence was painfully broken by a series of horrible coughs that were coming from his lungs. If he thought he was in pain before, he was wrong in relation to the pain he was feeling from every cough that was leaving him almost breathless.

Was his illness that bad? He didn't know anymore, and frankly, he didn't care: everything just hurt too much.

A sense of relief came over him when a wing of familiar feathers began to rub his back.

Taking some time to sink it in, he jolted his head up to see if the face would go with the wings. Low and behold, there, over on his side, was Kazooie, holding a serious look that was mixed with her typical seriousness and abnormal concern. By abnormal, that really meant rare, meaning that in a way, her concern was serious, and her green eyes showed that she was fighting to keep something in.

They knew each other long enough to the degree that they really didn't need to say anything to know what the other was thinking. As Kazooie's wing came to a stop, but didn't lift itself off of him, Banjo turned his head away to the other side of the bed, trying to find some comfort in the realization that Kazooie might have used herself as Banjo's pillow: hence why the "pillow" felt different when he woke up. He knew that he shouldn't have gone, but he felt obligated to go: not just out of hope for snow cones later, but another idea that had been making a fine work on his mind.

Kazooie, on the other hand, couldn't figure out why Banjo was being so reckless. By the normal standards, it was her that was the most reckless of the team of two, and it pained Kazooie that she couldn't look at Banjo and just obtain that sudden click like she normally would from the honey-bear. She was only relieved that she could tell Banjo was hiding something, or she would have doubted the quality of their friendship.

She really wanted to blame his stupidity on his sickness, really she did, but there was that aching feeling that there was more going on in Banjo than what he was willing to admit to. She was hoping that something would tell her what was going on in the noggin of the honey bear, but the only thing that seemed to be obviously receptive was the crackling of the fire and the heavy breathing Banjo was suffering through because of his previous coughing fit.

"Are you okay?"

It was a dumb question with an obvious answer, but Kazooie really wanted to break the puzzling silence between them.

"I'll be okay," Banjo replied in a painfully low voice, "I guess I shouldn't have gone out there…"

"We warned you to not go out there, Banjo," Kazooie said, lifting her wing off of Banjo's back so she could look at him square in the eyes, "Do you have any idea how-"

She stopped herself for a minute, and it was for two reasons: one, she realized that she was just making idle chat; and two, there was something in Banjo's eyes that she hadn't seen before. While it was true that Kazooie occasionally scared Banjo here and there (and all out of good fun), there was a kind of fear that she rarely saw out of him, and it was the kind of fearful gaze that kids would give when they were caught with their hands in the cookie jar. However, Banjo's paw was surely in no cookie jar, so there must have been another fear that was swelling inside of him.

Why did Banjo have to hide from her?

When her expression became gentle, Banjo had his fair share of confusion.

"Banjo, what's going on?"

The honey bear could do nothing but swallow hard. When he tried to turn his head away, she used her wing to turn his head back to her.

"Banjo, seriously: I've never seen you act like this… ever! Normally, I'm the one scaring you shitless, but this isn't funny payback-"

"-I wasn't trying to scare you."

"That doesn't change the fact that you did scare me. Normally, you're the careful one, so why the sudden change? Banjo, I'm worried about you."

The last sentence seemed to work, because his eyes widened enough to register to her that she hit a nerve. Kazooie was normally the type to hit a nerve on Banjo unless she was serious about something: this situation was such a moment.

However, the moment took a dramatic shift when Banjo's eyes widened more, slamming shut immediately thereafter when another horrible coughing fit began to take place. This time, the coughing fit was so horrible, that the breath Banjo sucked in as a dry wheeze caused Kazooie's heart to stop. Since both wings were on him already, she convinced Banjo to lay back down, turning her gaze to Tooty as she approached the bed with hot chocolate on a small tray. Perhaps Tooty was thinking more ahead than she was since there was also a cup of warm tea that was safe to assume that it was for Banjo.

When Tooty put the tray down on the dresser, she began to walk away from the duo, her mind imagining what could come next. Weither they knew that she knew or not, Tooty had some maturity for a reason, and it was essentially helpful when it came to the arguments that would be similar to this and lead to yelling in between the duo. Yes, occasionally these two would yell at each other, and the first couple of times convinced her to tears, but there was something else that she knew about them too, and understood that it was essential that she not involve herself into the matter.

Kazooie, unlike Tooty, had just about enough.

As the next coughing fit finally came to a settling, despite the painful wheezing that Banjo was executing at the moment, Kazooie flapped her wings into a small flight, but only enough to where she could land on Banjo's stomach. That alone was more than enough to get the bear's attention directly onto the bird.

"Banjo! For goodness sake, please tell me what in the world is-"

Kazooie never finished her demand out of the bear, for the long friendship that they had caused them to read each other. Out of Kazooie came surprise, and it was the fault of what Banjo was giving that caused her to remain surprised.

Banjo was crying.

No, it wasn't from the fact that she had landed on his stomach, or Banjo would have said something sometime ago, or maybe she would have noticed and flown off of him seconds before the matter. After all, the way Banjo said her name was unlike many of the ways that he would normally say her name in the past.

"Kazooie…"

The last time his emotions were in this much of a nervous wreck, it was the time that Kazooie was hit with a spell during the final battle of their first adventure in order to save Tooty. If Banjo had not used his book bag as a parachute as Gruntilda plummeted to her first doom, they may not have been able to survive for the second round against that witch.

Banjo cried that time too, and it wasn't just for anyone: it was for her.

Remembering the warm feeling that went through her when Banjo cried his eyes out of worry for Kazooie, a moment of clarity suddenly clicked on the inside of her, causing her eyes to widen at what might be the motive behind Banjo's strange behavior. She passed the moment as a moment of intense friendship, but there was a possibility that the friendship was so intense, it broke into something more for Banjo.

"… Banjo… no way… are you…?"

She allowed him to look away, realizing that the excessive blushing that Banjo was committing might be for what was going on through her mind. However, every time that Banjo cried like this, it always left a painful sting in her heart. No matter how it effected her, it reminded Kazooie of just how much she really cared for him.

Apparently, he seemed to care about her in a different dimension.

Slowly, she got off of his stomach, and he used that moment to sit up, not willing to look at Kazooie. In the dark atmosphere, it amazed her how Banjo's tears were slightly glowing because of the fire. Yet, despite everything, she was even more amazed that he was willing to cry like this in front of her, no longer willing to hold his feelings back like a defeated puppy.

His eyes closed as her heart started to break.

"… Look, Kazooie… I didn't want it to come out like this. I wanted to go out on my own because there were certain things that I wanted to think through. I guess it didn't turn out that way."

When he opened his eyes a little, there was a haziness that Kazooie didn't like. She wanted to get closer to him, but for the first time in a long time, she wasn't exactly sure what to do.

"Maybe I carry feelings for you, and maybe I'm just imagining things because I'm sick, but let's be honest for a minute: what if something bad were to come out of this?"

"What do you mean? Banjo, you and I have been through a lot of thick and thin situations together: both publicly and personally. How in the world can you just suddenly doubt our friendship like that? And for the record, I sincerely doubt your current state has anything to do with this."

"Kazooie… aside from Tooty, you're the only one I have…"

Now it was Kazooie's turn to swallow hard.

"If these feelings were acted upon… I couldn't bear the thought of losing you."

"Banjo, you wouldn't lose me."

"You're just saying that because it hasn't happened yet. What if we try it out, and it doesn't work? We only have each other, and it would leave us at a very awkward state as friends."

As Banjo turned to look at Kazooie once again, she allowed her eyes to widen a little as paws met wings for the first time during this whole conversation. The honey bear had to close his eyes for a minute, but opened his sapphire eyes once again to look at the emerald pair before him.

"Kazooie… I can't say I really know what this kind of love is… but I've never felt this way about anyone, and that's probably very narrow-minded of me to say so. Just… please understand that I'd rather love you as a friend forever than love you once on romantic terms and lose you forever."

If only Banjo noticed how red he made Kazooie blush under her red feathers, but it began to fade when Banjo looked away again, allowing his hands to slip from her wings. He would have lost all grip, but Kazooie swiftly tightened her grip before the paws left completely, and when Banjo looked at her to see just how serious she was about all of this, she lunged herself at Banjo with enough force to land on his lap, her wings wide open for the warm embrace that she was giving Banjo.

Banjo only needed a minute to sink in the new information, and Kazooie was willing to wait on him, and found herself smiling like an idiot when she felt the arms of her sick friend wrap around her in a complete, firm embrace.

"You worry too much, Banjo."

"And you're stubborn."

"I know, you sick ol' bear… I know."

* * *

><p><strong>Artist's Comments:<strong>

Part 2 of Banjo-Kazooie's Tears of a Bear: Sick Ol' Bear

Setting: After _Banjo-Kazooie, Nuts and Bolts_

I really believe that out of this two-shot, this one came out a lot better. If you don't agree with the Bazooie ship, and yet had the bold curiosity to continue to this chapter, I applaud you.

Constructive criticism advised.

May God's love, grace, and mercy be with us all.


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